The Avocado Fund

I've just stocked my shop with a bunch of goodies that have been waiting to go in, and why? I'm working on an Avocado Fund.

The Avocado Fund will supplement, for a month or two, the grocery budget of a very worthy young man who works full-time for a non-profit and has added full-time graduate school (social work) to his plate*. He's stretched a little thin, and doesn't have much extra for fruits and vegetables. 

*ALL* the proceeds from my shop, until further notice, will be funding these avocadoes.

*(Not my son. And if you know who it is, G, please don't tell him).

Sisters + Morning Light

Apple Orchard Log Cabin Quilt

I finished this very large quilt this weekend. The quilting lines were so close together that it was a massive undertaking.

The color story I imagined when I pieced it is an apple orchard in September--emphasis on the sky between the last green leaves on the trees. The diagonal quilting hints at the sunshine falling at an autumnal slant.

I backed it with two fabrics I had on hand. 

Another Thought on Late Bloomers

Remember the posts on late bloomers?

Malcolm Gladwell has this lovely thought:

"Late bloomers' stories are invariably love stories."

--What the Dog Saw (2009)

A Copper Pot Full of Autumn, in Needlepoint

I found this needlepoint at my favorite thrift store. It's even more awesome up close, with the butterfly's raised body, and the dimensional peas.

I'll be making it up into a shopping tote perfect for the fall harvest.

I actually have a backlog of thrift store sewing materials sitting in the sewing room, and I'm going to try tackling them this week. Keep me honest, folks.

Still Full of Summer

The hills are starting to look smoky and purple and the light is coming in lower, but the flowerpots are still full of summer.

Pinwheel Quilt in the Shop

I've decided to put this one in my etsy shop because the house can only hold so many quilts.

Remember, all sale proceeds go to charity!

Flesh Tones

Oh my. See the flesh tones mixed up on my palette? I'm painting a picture with THREE PEOPLE in it, and I don't think I've ever painted a person before. What could possibly go wrong?

Home with Giles' Quilt

Hello again, after a trip with Clara to NYC to visit Giles. Like last time, I failed to take any pictures at all of the good times we had--shopping, sailing, cooking, and eating.

I very much appreciate Giles' hospitality in his small apartment. It's always fun to see the household things I made years ago and gave him, then forgot about. Like this quilt, one of my earliest endeavors. I brought it home so I could patch the worn places. 

I could do that because I brought an empty duffel bag along, planning to fill it with my haul at Mood Fabrics. Said haul didn't happen after all--I always plan fabric shopping for last, so I don't have to carry around a heavy bundle, and then I run out of time.

I'm sure I'll find something to sew anyway, even without an infusion of new Big City Fabrics.

It's good to be back! Tomorrow I'm going to go for a run, buy groceries, empty the trash cans, clean the bird cage, and call a bunch of people on the phone for work. And patch that quilt.

Daisy Shows Her Chickens

4H continues to bless Daisy with opportunities to get out there and do new things. Like show her chickens in a poultry competition.

She entered a single hen, an Araucana pair, and a cheery trio of Barred Rock hens.

All of this was new to us, and I was so proud of this formerly painfully-shy child who's learned so much confidence.

Although, she confessed, her thumbnails are bitten just a little low tonight.

Next time she probably won't be so nervous.

Oil Painting: Fern in Milk Glass

Last week's painting straight from real life . . . now that I see it photographed the greens look a little harsh or heavy. Green is hard to get right, that's for sure.

Three Eggs

The Barred Rocks still aren't laying--any day now--but the Araucanas are very faithful, and the Cinnamon Queens do their best.

"The Point of Seasonality"

"There is a point to travel that is very much like the point of seasonality: it helps our mental organization of time, breaking it up, and makes our overall experience seem fuller."

--Mireille Guiliano, French Women for All Seasons 

A New Instrument for Daisy

Daisy still loves and works hard at the piano, but wanted to add an instrument to her repertoire that would allow her to play in an orchestra in college. So, the clarinet!

This is nothing like starting piano lessons. We've finished the whole learning curve (apparently) of figuring out how to practice, and that we DO practice, every day. It's been a joy to hear her progress in just a month of weekly lessons.

She appreciates the huge boost her piano skills have allowed for--all that pesky music-reading and scale-understanding is done already.

A Summerweight Housecoat: Retro Butterick 5152

(Just in time for cooler weather) I have made myself the lightest of lightweight housecoats for the warm months. I found this beautiful almost-sheer floral lawn at Hancock's for $3/yard, and scooped it up for a project I knew would take many a yard--Retro Butterick 5152.

This pattern goes together easily and fits me nicely. And, helpfully, isn't too low-cut to assist with morning decency.

A Pinwheel Quilt

Several months ago a truly generous reader and fellow quilt lover sent me two vintage quilt tops. The smaller one was these cheerful pinwheels. My mother just finished quilting it with perle cotton, a bright orange back, and some contrasting blue binding. My favorite part (not shown) is the little place she had to patch. A huge thank you to you, dear reader, whose email I cannot find!

Rooting a Cutting

"Good Enough and Done"

" . . . good enough and and done is a smarter choice than perfect, and simply making a choice is often a sign of maturity, balance, and contentment."

--Myquillyn Smith, The Nesting Place 

A Little Quilting Progress

Clara gets the credit for these rows. These diagonals are hard! It's harder to steer, and we're doing the rows an inch apart, rather than two. That's twice as many rows, but the quilt will be gorgeous.

Velvet Nubbins

We are all getting our money's worth out of Sister--endless entertainment as well as softness. 

In this house her paws are known as the velvet nubbins (more specifically, velvet forenubbins and velvet hindnubbins).

Anyone would like this cat.

Oil Painting: White Orchids

Continuing to love my Tuesday evenings in the painting studio. This started out being about the pink lilies you see in the background, then turned out to be about the white orchids you see in the foreground.